


Never shall we die

by Quire



Category: Red White & Royal Blue - Casey McQuiston
Genre: Alex is a feared and revered pirate captain, Alternate Universe - Pirate, Ambiguous/Open Ending, Angst, Hanging, Henry is an officer in the British navy, Lots of Angst, M/M, The Gallows, a brief discussion of 18th century sodomy laws, talk of death, they're in love because of course they are
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-12-21
Updated: 2020-12-21
Packaged: 2021-03-10 19:41:24
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,738
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/28222587
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Quire/pseuds/Quire
Summary: "By decree, all persons found guilty of piracy, or aiding a person convicted of piracy, shall be sentenced to hang by the neck until dead."It was a hazard that came with the job. Every pirate in existence knew what the punishment was. Alex knew it too, and he accepted it, and he did his job. But that didn't mean he was ready for it to happen. Because if there was one end every pirate feared, it was the end of a rope.
Relationships: Alex Claremont-Diaz/Henry Fox-Mountchristen-Windsor
Comments: 14
Kudos: 60





	Never shall we die

Alex wonders if it’s by design that he’s in a cell with a perfect view of the square. Of the crowds cheering for his death and the noose that will inevitably tighten around his neck.

This isn’t how he wants to die. It’s not how any pirate wants to die. All of them imagine going out in a battle by sword or pistol, or in a storm that sinks or shipwrecks your boat. Despite being one of the many hazards of the job, swinging at the end of a rope is the way no one wants to go out. 

The crowd’s getting rowdier by the minute, so Alex knows it won’t be long now. He also knows they’re going to drag this out; the famous captain that’s been kicking the ass of the English navy, how could they not? 

He’s not afraid, exactly. Alex reconciled with the fact that he’d probably die doing this a long time ago, right after he first got into piracy. What he’s upset about is the fact that he won’t see his family again. 

Alex never wanted them to witness this, and still doesn’t, but he would’ve liked to see them one last time. June and Nora are probably still in Nassau with the ship and the crew. The last time Alex saw his parents was a month ago in Port Royal. 

He jumps as the door to his cell clangs open. It’s too soon for it to be time, there’s still someone giving some speech up on the gallows. 

When he turns, Alex sees the one other person he wanted to see before they drop him off the platform. 

Henry turns to the soldier holding the keys behind him, “leave us.” 

He leaves with the keys, but the two of them wait for the footsteps to recede down the hallway before Alex is throwing himself into Henry’s arms. 

“Phillip wouldn’t let me in here alone with the keys.” He says by way of explanation for the soldier that was with him. “He was right in thinking I would’ve tried to stage an escape.” 

Alex had briefly wondered why an officer in the navy had to be accompanied like that, but now it made more sense. He lets Henry hug him tight for as long as he dares before pulling away. “I—“ 

“I’m going to tell them.” Henry fidgets with the cuff of his sleeve, and keeps talking at Alex’s questioning look. “I’m going to stand up today and tell everyone. About us an—“ 

“No.”

“Yes, I’ll—“ 

“No. Henry, no. Absolutely not.” Alex shakes his head vehemently, glaring at the man in front of him with something normally only used on enemy captains. Henry knows what the price for their relationship is. Alex does too. “I will not go to the gallows knowing you’ll end up swinging beside me. No.”

He looks at the man standing before him. This perfect man with stupidly soft blonde hair and his devilishly handsome grin. This man who has a long and prosperous naval career in front of him, but who hates the job with every fiber of his being and longs for freedom. This man who Alex has fallen completely and utterly in love with, this man who is his entire world. 

Henry sighs, joining his hand with Alex’s. Flinching as his fingers brush the manacles around Alex's wrist. His voice is barely above a whisper. “I don’t want to live in a world that doesn’t have you in it.” 

“I wouldn’t want to live without you either, but you have to. You  _ have _ to, Henry. I refuse that I, that our relationship, be the thing to get you hanged. ” Alex can’t bear that thought. The only thing worse than knowing he’s going to die very soon, would be the knowledge that he got Henry killed before it happened. “Promise me, Henry. Please. Promise me.” 

“I promise.” He finally says, voice even softer still. 

There’s still one thing on Alex’s mind though, and he turns to look back out the small bars at the back of the cell. He watches the rope meant for his neck blow in the wind for a moment before turning back towards Henry. “And promise me you won’t watch?”

“You know I have to be there. Especially since it was my brother who…” 

“I know. I just… you and I both know that there’s a chance my neck won’t break. We’ve both seen the men that suffocate flailing. If… if that happens, I don’t want to be the last image you have of me.” Alex rubs a hand over his face as best he can with the manacles on his wrists and avoids Henry’s eye. “I want you to promise me that you’ll look away, and—instead of that image as your last—you take this one instead.” 

He pulls Henry into a kiss. The chains on his wrists clinking as he cups the other man’s face. He tries to map out every inch of that face. To memorise every detail of Henry’s lips, the feel of them against Alex’s own. He wishes to absorb the heat emanating from the two of them; to ignite the sparks going off at the point their bodies meet. 

Most of all Alex tries to savour this moment, because he knows with certainty that it will be one of his last. 

They’re both breathing heavy when they pull away, and Alex somehow manages a smile. He reaches up and gently runs his fingers through the top of Henry’s hair and down his ponytail. His fingers trail across the man’s collar and down the trim of his jacket. 

“I’ve always hated this uniform and everything it stands for.” Alex stops and smiles again, “But I’m glad I got to see you in it one last time.” 

Henry smiles a little too, but Alex can see how pained he is to do it. “I promise I won’t watch. If....  _ that  _ happens, I’ll look away.”

Alex’s thank you is almost too quiet to hear. He’s just realized that this moment, this second right here, where he’ll have to tell Henry to leave, to say goodbye, might just be one of the worst moments of what’s left of his life. He doesn’t have the strength to tell Henry to go, to say that one little word that’ll have him leaving. 

Turns out he doesn’t have too though. The soldier who accompanied Henry in shows back up, this time with Phillip and two other soldiers in tow. Henry drops his hand and steps away from him immediately, and Alex prays that no one saw it. He lets the two soldiers grab his arms and start to lead him off without a fight, there would be no point in delaying the inevitable. He fights the urge to throw one last glance back at Henry as he’s led down the dark hallway.

—

The cheering of the crowd grows louder when they escort him up onto the platform. Somehow, it grows louder still when the noose is placed around his neck. Alex ignores them, the mass of people waiting anxiously for his death for no other reason that someone told them too, and turns to find the one person he still wants to see. 

Henry’s standing next to his brother and other naval officers, looking as neutral-faced as the rest of them. Alex knows now that it’s a facade. That years of the navy and his brother’s imposing influence have made him able to feel the deepest emotions while looking bored or uninterested. He knows that underneath the layers of ceremony and training, Henry’s heart is breaking. Alex hates himself for it. 

The man running the whole thing is still laying out the charges and talking. Alex wonders how fair that really is. They drag him all the way up here, put the rope around his neck, have him waiting and preparing for the drop, and then just drag it out. 

It gives him time though, which part of Alex appreciates. He appreciates that this is being held in the harbour; That he’s able to look past the crowd and onto the ocean he called home for the majority of his life. It’s a little comforting to know that at least, even if he isn’t dying on it, he’s able to see the sea as he dies. 

Alex thinks it’s a hallucination when he sees familiar sails come into view. It has to be; no one in his family would risk themselves to come and see this. It’s what it is, a hallucination made up by a condemned man trying to find at least a little more comfort as he dies. It’s what that is. 

But then he spots a familiar face in the crowd. Then two, and then three. Members of his crew standing in between jeering londoners. That too must be a hallucination. His imagination trying to put him in a familiar place. 

The executioner's hand moves to the lever, and Alex takes one last look at Henry, then out at the horizon before closing his eyes. It’ll all be over in a second, he thinks. Not letting himself dwell on the possibility that it won’t be, that he’ll suffocate slowly. It’ll all be over in a second. 

Alex’s eyes fly open when the door underneath him does. He feels the exact moment the rope pulls tight, and he knows that this won’t be as quick as he hoped. Alex tries, as much as he can while suffocation, to find Henry again. As promised, he’s turned away from the gallows. At least Alex can suffocate knowing Henry won’t be watching him twitch and struggle. 

A commotion starts as his vision starts to go black around the edges. He thinks it’s behind him, or it may still be his imagination. There are stories of men dreaming up scenarios in their final moments. The sails of his ship are still visible, still there,but the members of his crew he thought he saw in the crowd are not. Alex hears the clash of swords and the fire of guns as the world goes hazy. The screams of the crowd and the sensation of falling as it seems to become easier to breathe. He hits the ground hard. The world goes black as hears Henry’s voice, right beside him, and feels a familiar hand on his cheek. 

Maybe he’s not dying today after all. 

**Author's Note:**

> So... this was pretty much brought on by my binging of black sails. I might think about making this a longer thing, but first I'll have to finish my other multi-chap. I also might end up changing the summary a little bit cause I'm not too sure about it. 
> 
> The little quotations in the summary are lifted from the opening scene of Prate of the Caribbean: At Worlds End. 
> 
> Thanks for reading! Hope you enjoyed!


End file.
